Homespun Honolulu

Before zoning out and letting my mind wander off on Monday, I did manage to focus for just a bit so that I could check in on the grand opening of the Stop Rail Now office.

Some people seem to think that the rail will be a good addition to our landscape and that it will help alleviate the problems with transportation and traffic. I don’t think so.

I’m sorry but I am inclined to be more supportive of the research done by the staff at the University of Hawaii and I will go with those who are in the know rather than those looking to make a name for themselves. I will even go so far as to say that if you work downtown, or nearby, and if you’re a registered voter, go ahead and print out the petition, send me a message or leave a comment here so that I can contact you. I will collect them from you and deliver them to the Stop Rail Now office myself!

We have the right to vote on this project! Get your co-workers to sign it too! As long as this is what people want to do and as long as they’re registered to vote, then go for it!

This movement is not without its supporters, as you can see. If you have questions or need assistance, contact the office at (808) 536-4384.

We have to maintain the beauty of our island! Honolulu has just been rated as the “greenest city in the nation.” I think we should focus more on keeping it that way and focus on keeping our skyline free of rail tracks and other mechanical paraphernalia.

At the very least it is a decision that should be made by the citizens as a whole, not unilaterally by a hired official.

Stop Rail Now
627 South Street, Suite 4
Honolulu, HI 96813

Remember when they covered the news with all of those stories about the ethnic cleansing of Albanians in Kosovo? Remember we bombed the heck out of what was once Yugoslavia because of those claims?

Pure fiction! They lied to us! There was no such ethnic cleansing. It was all propaganda and false media reporting. How can we now look away and ignore this? Has our entire country become so parochial that we’re comfortably oblivious to the atrocities that are done with (and sometimes without) our citizen’s oblivious stamp of approval?

I know the newsies are laughing at me. Yeah, I know, you news experts are chuckling and wondering why I’m so surprised. You’re thinking, “They always lie to us, didn’t you know that?” Yeah, okay, I know. But this, for me anyway, is way beyond anything I have experienced in the way of deception by my own government.

If our government officials had said to us that we needed to protect our interest in the oil, we would have understood that. The problem is, they know we would have NOT understood, or tolerated, our country backing drug-trafficking terrorists! That’s what they were doing.

Are you mad yet? Believe me, it took me a while to cool down enough so that this post wouldn’t sound like raving lunacy. So, why am I writing about this? What does this have to do with me? What does this have to do with Honolulu? Read on…

The United States is not without its share of Serbian Americans. Serbian Orthodox churches all over the United States held big demonstrations about our (the United States of America’s) condoning of the Kosovar Albanians claiming Kosovo as their own — declaring independence in a land that is not and never was theirs.

My friends and members of my Church family are deeply hurt by this — hurt from personal, historic, religious and ethnic standpoints. Comparatively speaking, the declaration of disgust expressed in Honolulu was very small, but just as sincere and heartfelt nonetheless.

They gathered a concerned few together and met in front of the Federal Building just outside of downtown Honolulu. What America has done, without the knowledge of its citizenry, is to create a stage for this mess to play out where the outcry is too soft to be heard. Nobody is talking about it. The media is disinterested because there is no mob and there is no violence in the street. The feeble cry of, “but Kosovo is Serbia!” falls on deaf ears.

Yes, people were more than willing to talk it through — more than willing to explain their position and why it hurts them. I was able to get the full impact of those explanations. But, where do I go for a disinterested party?

At this point of discovery I am angry. I needed more information to make a case for seeing the Serbian side of this Kosovo conflict. I needed more to disagree so vehemently with my own government — the government that is supposed to be doing good throughout the World.

Increasingly frustrated and still in denial that my country could be so deceitfully secretive, and leave us with no access to news from the other side, I kept searching. You see, it’s not that we don’t care, it’s that we just don’t know and we don’t fully understand the degree of our involvement.

Other countries think our calm is because we’re wimps. That is not the case. We are seeking knowledge and trying to ascertain the truth. I don’t want to hear governmental rhetoric that is laced with “creative” truths, aka lies, that are designed to sway public opinion. Give me the facts and let me make my own decisions on the movements of the people we voted into office!

Do we have culture clashes going on here? Definitely. Hawaii, of all places, should be used to it! Well, for the bulk of the population, the Slavic nations haven’t made a large enough impact on Hawaii to keep us all paying attention to what’s going on with their cultures and their homelands. We keep track of China, Japan and the Philippines, but, for the most part, the European Union seems to be kind of off our radar.

The media (I refer here to mainland media — our local stations are exempt on this topic) is obviously hell-bent on lying to us. Either that or they’re being strong-armed or paid huge sums to rewrite the facts. So, we need news sources that come directly from the people — people who are in the middle of it all and know the truth. Fox News is already on my list of places not to listen to because they shoot their mouths off before verifying their information — anything for headlines and to be first with breaking news — even if it’s false!

I really don’t want to add CNN to that ugly place of distrust. Sigh. This is a classic reason why we need something like the blogosphere if we expect to get the truth. We’ll get particles of truth, but at least they’ll be just that — the truth! When I say blogosphere I mean real people, not spin-off blogs from the news channels — those are just the same thing we already get from the media with some added editorial comment. They’re not bad, they’re just not reliable when the honesty of their station(s) is being questioned.

The blogosphere I’m talking about is the actual people living in the neighborhoods they’re talking about. The real people that understand the culture and current events and are living and sharing their lives with the world through their blogs.

While our local media and blogs are quiet about the topic of Kosovo, the blogosphere as a whole is not without its opinion and voice on this matter. Nothing Against Serbia tells us about how Zurich has heard the pleas of its Serbian population.

So, Now What?

Where do you think the United States stands with Serbia now? Our applauding this illegal drama has made Russia mad at us too. Have we made enemies out of our friends?

The damage has been done, so what will Washington do now to keep the peace? Anything? Hmmm… I wonder what Barack Obama would do to fix the situation? I don’t know. Perhaps he will open the lines of communication and help mend the rift and discuss options with all involved. What would Hillary Clinton do? NOTHING! Her husband was president when it started! What will McCain do? Nothing — he and his party want to continue it all in their “business as usual” manner.

What can we do? Not much. As citizens we can acknowledge the injustice done to our brethren so far across the globe, we can send venom-filled letters to our representatives in Congress, or we can pray for them as seen here.

Why does our Russian Orthodox Priest see this as important? Aside from the fact that Serbia gave refuge to the Russian Orthodox so many, many years ago, when so many were threatened by the communists, Father Anatole justifies his prayerful support in this way:

First of all, ANY immoral act, whether committed by an individual or by a government, must be condemned in no uncertain words. Let me just cite a few undisputed facts connected with the Kosovo debacle:

1. Kosovo is not only a territory which formed the heartland of Medieval Serbia, but by long standing tradition it is the seat of the Serbian Orthodox Patriarchate. In addition, there are (or were) many historically important churches and monasteries in Kosovo.

2. When NATO, led by the United States, was threatening to bomb Serbia and Kosovo, the Kosovar Terrorists (a.k.a. ‘freedom fighters’ in the United States) were demanding full independence from Yugoslavia. At that time Clinton’s girdle saleswoman, Madeline Albright, told the Kosovar Albanians that ‘unless you only ask for autonomy, NATO cannot bomb the Serbs.’ Well, since the Albanians wanted Serbs to be bombed they changed their demand to ‘autonomy’.

3. NATO was originally formed to defend Western Europe from aggression from the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact countries. Yugoslavia, at the time of the bombing was not allied with the Soviet Union, and the Warsaw Pact had disappeared. Thus, the bombing of Yugoslavia by NATO was not an act mandated to it – it was interference in the internal affairs of a country that had not attacked anyone.

4. During Miloshevich’s crackdown against the Albanian separatists in Kosovo it was the Serbian Orthodox Church that did its best to shelter and defend innocent Albanian civilians. And what thanks did it get after the Serbs were driven out of Kosovo? Churches, monasteries were burned and desecrated, and the NATO peacekeepers did little to stop the Kosovars from doing their ‘ethnic cleansing’.

5. There is so little law and order in Kosovo now that after NATO eventually pulls out, the remainder of the Serbs in Kosovo can only expect genocidal attacks against them. (And the Kosovars can be sure that they will be in no way punished by NATO and the United States for that.)

6. Finally, the Israelis, if not the United States government, have spotted the precedent, a very unfavorable precedent for them, in the Kosovo situation. If NATO can bomb a sovereign state because that state refuses to grant independence to one of its territories where a particular ethnic group is in the majority and even engages in terrorist acts against it, what is preventing the Palestinians from declaring independence in Gaza and the West Bank? After all, logically, NATO should be protecting them against Israel by bombing the Israelis. One may also add to this, the Kurdish separatists in Eastern Turkey, the Basque separatists in Spain, etc., etc.

Does he know what he’s talking about? You bet. A now retired linguistics professor from the University of Hawaii, Father Anatole has had his own ethnic reasons to follow the news of the Slavic regions all these years. He is Russian and he was born in Yugoslavia where his mother, like many other Russian people fleeing the Russian communist regime, was given sanctuary.

Peaceful by nature, with a strong and passionate Christian Faith, prayers over the icon of the Serbian saint, Saint Lazar, offer some peace to the distressed Serbs who continue to watch their ethnic homeland and the holy places of its national Church being desecrated. This is all the more hurtful when the land they now call home applauds these visual and mental horrors.

Why is America Being So Disagreeable?

Caution: The following is my paranoid opinion section based only on my own thoughts and observations.

Could all of this be the reason for the rise in the cost of gas? The new pipeline to transport the ever-coveted oil from one country to the next is an ongoing project. That pipeline runs right through Kosovo! Hello?!?

Okay, maybe that’s being just a little too paranoid but, $9 billion of oil revenue has suddenly vanished? (I was listening to Dianne Feinstein on CNN with Wolf Blitzer and had to go get the transcript just to confirm what I thought I heard.) Was that to fund the sending of more soldiers to “help” the citizens of Iraq or are we going there to distract the American public from the travesty in Kosovo? What ever they’re doing, it’s working.

Let’s think about it:

Tibetan Monks being persecuted by China, we say nothing. There’s no oil involved.

Darfur abuses are running rampant and we verbally condemn them, but nothing more. There’s no oil involved.

Yet phony genocide is retaliated with war with a country over it’s own property. That would be like Mexico taking over California or Cuba taking of Florida and calling it their own, with the help of the army from yet another country. What were we thinking? It’s all about the oil.

Okay, that’s the end of my paranoid opinion section.

I was almost ready to wrap this up and then I ran into this article about Russia, China, and India looking to revisit this very issue with Kosovo. The article opens with:

“The US administration rejected with derision Thursday’s joint call by Russia, China and India to resume talks on the future status of Kosovo.”

With “derision?” Who the hell do we think we are?!? I swear we have no diplomacy or shred of decency left! We have GOT to change what’s going on in the White House.

Still hungry for more? There are articles galore but here is just a bit more reading if you care to absorb more information about this fiasco. I just can’t stand this oil-based hypocrisy.

That makes my blog sound important, don’t you think? Okay, I know it’s a silly title, but it’s true. Don’t worry, if you don’t support Obama, I am cool with that and I am very open to hear about it! Honest! I don’t vote by political party, never have. I vote for people.

This article has been pending on the drawing board for quite some time. Every day something else happens that I have an opinion about; something else is said that fuels my desire to talk about this man. Each time that has happened over the past few weeks, I have just continued to add more comments to the draft of this post. After the Rev. Wright fiasco yesterday, now seems like the best time!

At this point, I realize that it is only going to continue to grow so I will try to summarize my compilations and talk about some of them and just keep talking in other posts as things happen. I need to just post this as a start to my political observations. If I let it go any longer, it’s going to end up being a novel-length series of observations. Oh, wait, that’s what a blog is, isn’t it?

I’m hanging on every word I hear and every word the political pundits are saying, to the best of my ability. I’m agreeing, disagreeing and wanting so much to tell someone what I’m thinking and then hear what you guys are thinking. I know what the media is thinking, or spinning.

It started pretty tame, fun and exciting, with things like this…

I actually appreciated the YouTube video that equated Obama’s campaign to the opening scenes of the Wizard of Oz. While I don’t think they intended it to be complimentary, I do think that it was intended to say we’re living in a fairytale. I actually loved the analogy because I could only think of the hope this new Presidential candidate has brought to the table. A fairytale? No, hope and a positive direction!

My focus is on Obama’s ability to unite all of us, the way we were here in Honolulu at the time of the caucus. His ability to spur people into action is like nothing I have ever seen in my lifetime. I’m amazed at my own reaction but even more amazed that so many people have had the same reaction. I was so drawn to his sincerity and to his genuine desire to work with us as a team. Obama’s down home communication is so very real and, consequently, so very effective.

I don’t understand the Congressman, Steve King, who said that they (al-Qaida) will be dancing in the streets if Obama wins. Huh? I can see why Iraq would be, but al-Qaida? Because of Obama’s middle name? How infantile is that?!? We’re done in Iraq and should have been gone a long time ago. It is obvious that if McCain, or any Republican, gets into office, they will keep us in the war trampling on Iraq’s turf. None of us want that. Of course, if Hillary wins they’ll probably be laughing in the street. Does anyone remember that women are not very popular over there? Uh, just how much respect do you think she’s going to get?

Let’s see, Obama says he’s going to get us out of their space and he’s going to talk story with their leaders, and others, even if they hate us. Iraq actually may be dancing in the street, and well it should! I think I would be dancing in the street too! Most of the people I talk to, think we should have brought our troops home a long time ago and should not have been there in the first place. I also read that someone said that Iraq would like to be left to their own devices. Of course, that may have been just opinion, but I would guess it’s not too far off the mark.

Here I will insert a note about Hamas. Why are they happy to see Obama get in? Because they want the lines of communication open without the constant threat of violence hanging over their heads. Are the problematic? Yes. But, I’m not really sure how problematic. Are you? Please share! Make not mistake, any real threat would be answered, but if it can be avoided and resolved without violence, that would be my foreign policy of choice.

If the terrorists (any of them) knew what was coming their way, and if they’re not looking for peaceful resolution, they should be looking for a place to hide. I’m quite familiar with some of the bloodline behind Senator Obama. His maternal grandmother was a no-nonsense, get-the-job-done kind of lady. This woman had a direct hand in raising Mr. Obama.

I have to be honest and confess that I have thanked my lucky stars over the years that I did not have to work under Madelyn Dunham. I never met her but, from what I have heard over the years, she had a commanding presence in the work place. I have heard from people who did work under her that she, “made sure you knew what you were doing!” She was focused and determined to get the job done and done correctly. Hmmm… I certainly don’t mind having that kind of bloodline in the Whitehouse! Mrs. Dunham retired before I got there. I now wish, more than ever, that I did make it there before she retired — so I would have known her instead of just knowing about her.

Perhaps Mr King’s dancing-in-the-street comment was another reference to Obama’s religion? I’ll admit that Fox News got me on that one too. Our local newsies know I don’t always follow the news… until recently. People were believing what Fox wrongly reported: that Obama was a Muslim. No, he is not. They did not have the decency to confirm or authenticate their information before letting it loose. They were wrong.

Sensational journalism is one thing (annoying as it is), but slanderous journalism is quite another. [NOTE: I have seen the objections elsewhere and I anticipate this thought going through the minds of readers so I will address it before it goes there — no, there is NOTHING wrong with being Muslim! That is your choice. However, it becomes a problem for voters if you are wanting to be the President of the United States — a country that is currently not on the best-friends list of Muslim-controlled countries and/or territories.]

The media can keep spinning it and I will continue to spin it in the right direction! See, this is the benefit of being a blogger — no network is going to tell me to shut my mouth. They may say it, but it won’t work. Does that make me a crazy blogger, Mr. O’Reilly? I will say that Mr. O’Reilly is one of the few things that keeps me tuning into Fox… even if he does irk me sometimes. Bloggers are not crazy, we’re passionate and sometimes artistic personalities. So, you might as well get over it!

What is it that Americans are looking to move away from?

Easy answer — Bush.

I voted for Gore. I often wonder where we would be right now if Gore had gotten in. I think that we would be trying to fix the environment and global warming. Not very interesting you say? Well, we would have gotten a head start on cutting back on our need for oil. Finally we’ve started looking for other ways to produce energy — to help decrease our huge reliance on that crude oil, but just think how much better off we would be if we had started this seven years ago!

Now, about being bitter… some people really need to get over those statements — Obama was simply making an observation. We are all bitter at any given time. Maybe we’re not bitter about the government all the time but even if things don’t impact us directly, we’re still bitter. How much of the news do you have to watch before you are troubled? How many accidents do you need to see, how much crime do you need to witness and how many tears do you have to dry before you feel a twinge?

Every time we see one of our friends weep as they say goodbye to their child being deployed, yet AGAIN, to Iraq, we feel the pangs of that with mixed emotion. These parents are so very proud, but so fearful for their children. You’re damn right we’re bitter. We’re fighting someone else’s war to protect our interest in oil? How much do you need to make you bitter?

I’m not living is squalor but I know people who are. I have financial difficulties but I haven’t lost my home. Yet, I understand the anguish and ire created by all of this. I have food, I have shelter, and I have ,a job. If I have all these things and I still feel frustrated and angry quite often, why is it so hard to believe that everyone has moments of bitterness?!? This is not an insult, in any way — it’s an astute observation. Anyone who doesn’t see that, in my opinion, is really out of touch!

We are frustrated, we are bitter and we’re angry! We’re watching our society crumble with drugs and crime as more of our citizens are sent off to fix other people’s governments instead of their own. You tell me why we shouldn’t be angry! The other candidates need to pick another topic to make up stories about because they’ve worked that one into the ground.

Most of my friends, and I myself, have trouble making ends meet. That’s just how our economy is. Is it frustrating? You bet! Are we bitter? At times. I didn’t find anything incorrect or belittling in Obama’s comments at all. He’s right, so stop trying to make something more out of a simple and accurate observation.

Wait, I’m not done yet… we also have people like Hillary Rosen on MSNBC saying that the Obama campaign is being divisive by stating that the super delegates are going against the popular vote, i.e. what the people want and have voted for. Uh, another true statement — they are! Maybe not all of them but the last I heard, ours is. We say Obama, our delegate says no. That is what’s divisive! The accusation in cases like that (that our votes are being stolen) is not “outrageous,” Ms. Rosen, it’s quite accurate and, like it or not, that’s how we see it — we put them where they are, how dare they go against us!

I do think that everyone will agree we need a President who will step up to the plate and be our country’s salvation. After the disaster that has been made of our economy and our fiscal budget, we need some heavy-duty restoration. As for our image around the globe, we need restitution. My mind returns again and again to Obama’s comments about how we need to talk to other World Leaders, even the ones who don’t like us. If you’re the President, Barrack, I’m looking to you to make it happen. I’m looking to you to be our President and our Ambassador!

Obama is representative of us. Of course we cry when we hear him talk. I thought I was the only one. I’m not. He speaks what’s in our hearts so it brings the passion forward. He’s the Coca Cola of politicians — he’s the Real Thing!

David Brooks from the New York Times cracks me up! I’m an Obama supporter and I’m not ashamed to say so. But, sorry Mr. Brooks, I’m not going to be selling flowers at the airport anytime soon. I may be there to give my favorite candidate a lei, but I don’t think that opportunity will ever present itself. If it does, I can only hope he will be surrounded by too many secret service for me to even get close!

Another person I would love to get close to is Michelle Obama. What a gem! If you say nothing else positive about this man, he’s got some damn good taste! She’s a natural! I saw her interview with Stephen Colbert and was very impressed with her candor and her comfort with public speaking. Michelle calls it as she sees it. Period.

Whether you agree with me or not, your comments are very welcome here. Don’t worry about being heated… talking about politics seems to have that effect on people. Ahem. Do watch your language though, please.

Now, about that Ayers thing… my first reaction was, “Who?” He’s a teacher now. He was a hippy activist back in the 60’s. He’s not part of the picture.

As for McCain’s stance that Obama should apologize to the American people… sorry Mr. McCain but that’s a stretch. I mean, do we all walk into a room and ask everyone there what they were doing 30 or 40 years ago? Most of us ask a new acquaintance what they do now.

Ayers lived through an ugly time in our history. It was during the “hippy days” — a time when drugs were the newest fad, sexual awareness was set free, and political activists were on every corner. Some, like Ayers and his cohorts, were extremists. Should he have been given some time behind bars to humble his a** a bit? Definitely. He got off because of a technicality, a slip-up on the part of FBI investigators. Don’t wait for me to say I’ll talk about that later. I won’t. It’s a waste of bandwidth and I’m not going to chastise an organization for which I have an uncanny amount of aloha and respect. It’s over, it’s done, move on.

Politico.com talked somewhat extensively about the relationship between Obama and Ayers. They posted the following quote from Senator Obama’s press secretary, “Sen. Obama strongly condemns the violent actions of the Weathermen group, as he does all acts of violence,” said Obama’s press secretary, Bill Burton. “But he was an 8-year-old child when Ayers and the Weathermen were active, and any attempt to connect Obama with events of almost 40 years ago is ridiculous.”

Aside from being cordial acquaintances that can communicate with each other, there is no relationship to talk about. Are they avoiding the questions from nosy newsies? Of course! Why can’t Rev. Wright do the same?

Reverend Wright, now there’s a problem! I need to point out that people who are saying so are NOT attacking the “black church” or anything else for that matter! The audacity of this person to take on the role of speaking for all black Christians and for everyone who has ever gone to his church. It’s inexcusable! The people who are hoping Wright will shut up are indeed against Wright. I personally am feeling embarrassment for the UCC parish in Chicago. I hope we will get to meet Reverend Moss who has replaced Wright.

Another black pastor, Reverend Eugene Rivers, on MSNBC’s Hardball said that Wright has done nothing but benefit Clinton and McCain with his rhetoric. My question is, how can a man (Wright) who has had so much education behave in such a moronic fashion? For every step we take to get rid of racism, idiots like that just mess it all up again. Does Wright have the right to keep talking? Of course! He’s an American! Should he keep talking? I think I can speak for most Obama supporters when I say, absolutely not! Go clean the church or polish the pews or plant a garden to calm your crazy self. Decaf only for you!

Going forward, I want to talk about what’s important, just like all Americans want to hear about what’s important — the issues that face our country. I’m going to tune in and research the answers to the questions that bother me and that bother the people around me most of all. Let’s look at the positions candidates are taking on the important things rather than coming down on them for the past and present indiscretions of others, over which they have no control.

There, I spit it out. Like I said, it’s a conglomeration of thoughts and reactions to what has gone on over the past several weeks. The time stamp on this post says March 8th. It started even before that. I am reading books about Barack Obama and ones written by him. There is much I want to share about what I am learning. Going forward I will share what I see and how I see how it can help the American people to benefit from what this man has to offer! That’s what I want to share! I just had to get these things off my chest first.

Technorati Tags: Politics, Barack Obama

We’ve all been distracted by what’s going on in the political arena at the national level and the ability of candidates to ignite a country behind them and their campaigns. Honolulu has its own political drama going on over here. This is not as glamorous by any stretch of the imagination yet, suddenly, it’s another one that is winning the support of the people.

These are the real people! They’re taking this seriously and the media, at least for now, is taking it seriously too. I saw KGMB, KHNL, and K-5. The others may have been there too but I’m not sure. I love the sign, “If You Build it, They Won’t Come.” We’ve been saying that from the start but only in conversations among friends and co-workers.

You have to wonder why we weren’t consulted. How can someone, even if he is the Mayor, have this kind of unilateral control over our land, our skyline and our money?!? Because we let him. Dennis Callan (above left), a photographer for the Hawaii Geographic Society, and Dr. Michael Uechi (above right), a physician, are looking to change all of that. The purpose of this “grassroots” movement is to get 40,000 signatures in the next 90 days so that we can get this question on the November ballot — as it should have been from the start! What will it say?

“Honolulu mass transit shall not include trains or rail transit.”

We should have been asked, we should have been the ones to make this decision and we’re going to try to take this decision making back! The Stop Rail Now! campaign was just ignited yesterday at Honolulu Hale. Of course I just had to be there because my feathers have been ruffled for a long time and I needed to flock with the birds of the same feather! In addition, there are so many ideas out there and there have been studies going on to work through the traffic problem without ruining our home.

Quite obviously, this whole transit thing has become a very volatile topic of discussion. I knew I had a lot of angst about it but I thought everyone had just thrown up their hands and walked away from the whole thing. Uh, no they haven’t! Someone did say that a couple of the Mayor’s secretaries were out there taking notes. As I walked by I snidely remarked, “Oh, let me give them a pen!” Attitude? You bet — it’s all about “By the People, For the People!” Darn! I forgot my t-shirt! Still in doubt? Check out this video!

Technorati Tags: Mass Transit, Stop Rail Now!, Honolulu Hale

There’s nothing that ignites a keyboard better than things that ruffle your feathers, make your hair stand up or just plain make you furious!

The Good…

…started out bad. The State of Hawaii’s Department of Health actually had the audacity to try to push through a Bill that would allow any moron to put tattoos on people without being licensed and without having any sanitary procedures or other requirements in place. What?!? What were they thinking?!?

Somebody decided that it was okay to loosen the rules on the Tattoo industry because we hadn’t had any disease outbreaks from tattooing. Hello?!? No, duh! That’s because those regulations were in place to protect the consumers and the public at large! They can’t be that dumb!

Associated Press Writer, Mark Niesse, has a nice write up about the issue. There is also a quote contained in that piece from Anna Paige. Ms. Paige was a spokesperson for the Artists on a news clip that I saw a few days ago. She gets it, the other artists get it, what’s wrong with everyone else? How did it even get this far? Senator Rosalyn Baker said that the Bill, “needs more work before becoming a law.” I’ll say! Is that ever an understatement!
This is a much bigger issue than people seem to realize. These are needles we’re talking about. Hello?!? Think about it, friends, family members and anyone who comes in contact with those seeking and acquiring tattoos are at risk by this kind of deregulation. I’m sorry, I just cannot believe that the Board of Health would have even considered such a thing! It’s just so damn irresponsible!

Anyway, that stupid Bill was killed by the Senate yesterday after the Tattoo artists themselves made a stink about it on Monday. I heard about it on Friday and I went ballistic! Then I saw a news clip where several tattoo companies had gotten together to share their concerns. So, I waited. Their businesses and their clients both need protection from this kind of legislative nonsense!

I will restate, once again, that the image of the Tattoo industry, one that seems to be held by the general populace, is not necessarily an accurate one. This is a wonderful example — it was the artists themselves who yelled about this crazy idea and I say “hats off” and a huge “Mahalo!” to Honolulu’s Tattoo Artists! Thanks gang, for keeping us safe! You stood up, you came forward and you made a good thing happen!

So, what’s Bad?

The weather. Well, not really… Kilauea is bad. Our friends and families on the Big Island of Hawaii are choking on the sulphuric fumes from the volcano, Volcano National Park has been closed yet again, and the American Red Cross is standing by in case there is a need to evacuate some people.

Meanwhile, Oahu residents are suffering from extreme headaches, nasal problems and throat irritation. We can only venture a guess as to how they are feeling on the Big Island. So, while Kilauea is just being a volcano and doing what they do, we’re just breathing some bad air. It has not become a medical issue, yet.

Ugly!

There was a meeting Monday night (last Monday) about the rail system. Did you know about it? Yeah, I didn’t either. But, there was a notice about it from the City and County of Honolulu’s News and Events email. The notice said that, “Monday’s meeting on rail transit will be held from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the cafeteria of Radford High School.” When did I get the email? At 8:51 p.m. Monday evening –twenty or so minutes after the meeting was over. Yes, I confirmed it; it was this past Monday night.

Is the Mayor trying to avoid confrontation? Perhaps. I will talk more about my thoughts on TheRail later, I promise. It has become an even bigger issue than simply transportation.

Was this late notice intentional? Maybe, maybe not. At the very least it was negligent and it sure looked ugly. Even more flagrant is the other part of that notice. The rest of the notice is all about the curbside recycling program. There will be meetings for that all over Oahu. There’s even a schedule for those meetings. But, there’s no schedule for rail meetings. Looks very sneaky. Ugly.

They Told Us We Matter!

Finally! They said on the news that our votes in the caucus would actually have an impact on who is chosen to go on the ballot! Every Presidential election is pretty much decided across the Nation while Hawaii voters are still showing up at their polling places. The time difference between here and the mainland is dramatic enough to just leave us at the tail end of the national vote count and make our votes simply the rubber stamp to the Nation’s election results. Not this time…

The lines were long and slow-moving but people were, I think, excited and shocked at the same time. People kept coming… the line kept getting longer. At Kawananakoa Middle School, my polling place, people were lined up all the way around the cafeteria, around the next building, all the way to School Street and the line was quickly backing up to Pali Highway. It just kept getting longer! It was exciting to watch and shocking to see.

As I approached the location where I’m designated to vote, I saw all the people… on the wrong side of the school… what are they doing on that side? Uh, the line was that long! The media had obviously picked up on things and there where news hounds wandering around with cameras hoisted on their shoulders. As it turned out, it was the same way across the island. All across the State we had a voter turnout of 37,000 — compared to about 4,000 or so at the last Presidential Caucus.

What a blast! History in the making, without a doubt! The Democratic Party didn’t expect it and they were as shocked as the rest of us. People were smiling in spite of it all and giddy with amazement!

It’s 7:00 PM and people were still showing up and traffic was worse than it is during morning rush hour! This caucus was not only momentous in its decisiveness, but it was historic in the amount of enthusiasm and the overall body count! For Hawaii, this was amazing. Even Dan Inouye said he felt proud witnessing this and he hadn’t felt anything like it since 1962.

One lady working with the 26th precinct (that overflowed into the auditorium) said, “It hasn’t been like this for over 20 years, and I’ve been here that long.” It was hot in the auditorium with all of the bodies and the flood lights. It was kind of neat for me though… the rest of the media was in the cafeteria so this was my little piece of news coverage.

While trying to somehow capture all of the emotion with this post, I was listening to the news reports from the various news channels as my husband continued to channel surf in the other room… and I was squealing with delight and even more shock as the numbers started coming over the air. I knew Obama would just have to pull it off here, but I was shocked yet again as I listened to the preliminary numbers. The outcome?

Barack Obama - 74%
Hillary Clinton - 26%

The reporters were all quick to remind us that these are preliminary numbers and we will not have a final breakdown of the delegate count until maybe as late as March 1st, but man or man! These numbers are just too huge for it to swing back the other away!

There was a lot of frustration and confusion but on this night we all saw and were a part of a historic moment! We finally got to have our say and be heard. We mattered!

Most people in the self-employed world tend to be more conservative about what they deduct in the way of business expenses. (I said most.) It’s good to have someone in the know to share these things and make you feel more comfortable about what you’re doing.

Back in September, Kelly Phillips Erb from Tax Girl wrote a guest post on Problogger.net and offered:

46 Tax Deductions that Bloggers Often Overlook

Figuring out what constitutes income in the blogging world is pretty easy. But what constitutes a proper deduction is another story - and bloggers usually err on the side of not deducting enough (and not the other way around).

Don’t get caught leaving money on the table. Here’s a list of potential deductions that you might have overlooked. Consider:

1. Monthly Hosting Fees
2. Annual Domain Costs
3. Design/Logo Fees…

…Now you have to go here to get the rest of the article and Kelly’s (the Tax Girl’s) disclaimer… and to keep me from being on the wrong end of their ire! Besides, the comments are full of even more useful information and idea sharing!

There are 43 other items on that list so you have to go see it and print it or bookmark it or whatever! These guys don’t need any help from me from a link-love standpoint, but in the interest of my tax-paying, American readers, I’m sending you guys there to see for yourselves!

I thought this was a wonderful post and have been sitting on it since September. It is interesting to note that a lot of these deductible expenses are applicable to just about any line of business, provided they aren’t Blog specific. April 15th is creeping up on us quickly, just like it does every year, so I thought I would do my blog-specific, civic duty. If all else fails, call the IRS and ask them!

Garran, if you’re still there, and anyone else who’s interested, the Tax Girl addresses the AMT (Alternative Minimum Tax) issue as well.

Or, you can do what I do every year — depend on TurboTax! They will walk you through your return (self-employed or not) and answer questions for you and keep you informed about changes in the Tax Laws that may or may not apply to you!

The beauty of taking the TurboTax route is that they hold on to your information from year to year so you can refer back to it while you’re there and as you complete your current-year return. My biggest suggestion… DO NOT FORGET YOUR PASSWORD!

They will keep your return, but not your login information. It’s part of their security. If you forget it, it’s gone. So don’t forget it!

I went running in the vicinity of John Dominis, as I do now and then — because I’ve measured the distance. I had an additional, ulterior motive this past Saturday. I knew that a representative group of Honolulu’s Flickr users would be there and I wanted to pop in on them to see what the camera lovers were up to! For the most part, they were talking about technology and things like Twitter, etc.

There were a lot of different cameras and some people even had two cameras with them, or maybe even more! I have to give the nod to these people because, unlike seasoned camera buffs, I have to lean on the camera makers to keep my photo taking functional.

Between my bad eyesight and my need for the added stability provided by digital technologies like Sony’s Super SteadyShot, I need them to keep me in focus and free from additional blur. So far, Sony is doing a very good job!

Anyway, as they were sharing stories, the word Superferry came out and guess what the photo op of the day was? You got it!

I was apparently a little disoriented because it seemed to be coming in a little closer to shore sooner than I thought it should. I honestly thought we were further away from it’s normal docking location.

No, it’s not going to hit the wall, but, like I said, it sure looked a lot closer a lot sooner than I thought it would!

Part of what I learned about the Flickr group is that one of the things they like to do is take pictures of people taking pictures.

So, I did just that!

After I left the place where the camera buffs were, I wanted to catch a picture of the tall stack of Matson containers that I saw while I was on my way. I was wondering if my jalapeno peppers were in one of those containers and waiting to be delivered to the grocery store.

As it turned out, when I got closer, there was nothing but chain-link fencing in the way… with barbed wire at the top.

Hmmm… maybe I’ll ask if it’s okay to move around the fence to get a clearer picture. I asked and a security guard said, “No, no pictures. Sorry.”

Whatever. Not a big deal. So, I continue on the way out to Ala Moana Blvd. Before I get to Ala Moana Blvd., there’s another little street that looks like it might get me closer after all. Well, there’s another security guard shack so I’m still not going to get as close as I wanted, but, the picture is still better than the first one!

Oh, oh… another security guard and here he comes. I can hear their radios so I know they’re taking to each other. I don’t remember what he said but it was an inquiry of some kind wanting to know what I wanted or what I was looking for or something like that.

At this point I’m getting very irritated and quip back, “This is a public street!  I’m just trying to get a picture of those Matson containers.” Do I have an attitude? You bet! I wasn’t bothering anyone. I just wanted a damn picture. And not even a very interesting one. Sheesh! Why do I even bother? At this point it has now become an issue and I am going to get my picture… whether they like it or not! I’m an American citizen and this is a public street!

I didn’t care at that point. I got my picture and I turned on my heel and walked away, still thinking, “Who do they think they are?!? I can take a picture if I want to take a picture! It’s a public road! Jerks! What have they got to hide anyway? Please!”

So, I continue on to the main drag, Ala Moana Blvd., and I keep looking to see if I can still get an even better shot, just out of spite. Then, as I come around the corner, I suddenly realize just where it was that I was choosing to ignore security. This is where I get a little shaken, get some proverbial egg on my face and the attitude retreats quickly.

Attitude Adjustment 101.  Okay, everybody repeat after me…

Ready? Everybody say, “Ooops!”

Needless to say, I walked sheepishly away after getting this picture. I did mention that I was a little disoriented didn’t I? I had forgotten how close we were to the Federal Building. The Federal Building is right across the street from this Homeland Security place… pretty much. The Federal Building never bothers me. It’s just there. That’s where you get tax forms. Did you know you can get them online now? Am I changing the subject?

Okay, I’m embarrassed and I really do love our Homeland Security people. Honest! I’m laughing at myself now, but, it was not at all a healthy experience for my nervous system.

Honolulu’s Mayor is holding the 2nd Annual Transit Symposium. This symposium is scheduled for Tuesday, November 13, 2007 from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm at the Blaisdell Exhibition Hall in the Pikake Room. This is certainly a way for citizens to see the real impact of this rather unpopular project, and to ask questions of some experts.

Is this what it will look like? Will there be drawings of what they’re envisioning for us? Is it worth the expense? Are we giving up too much of our skyline for this? Yes, we need help with the traffic situation, but will people actually use the darn thing?

Mayor Mufi Hannemann is excited about this event and the City and County of Honolulu’s Public Communications Division quotes the mayor saying, “There is much that we can learn from these cities about what works and what doesn’t.” It is very important that we avoid what doesn’t work! I also think the mayor is trying to get others excited about this project too. You can’t blame him for that I suppose.

I’m trying to be fair about this thing. There are places that have good things to report like this award-winning one in Arkansas as reported by Scientific Frontline. When they say things like, “Planning study shows how light rail development in Northwest Arkansas could maintain economic competitiveness and spur environmental sustainability,” how can we not be at least a little inquisitive? (Mahalo to the Voxant Newsroom for that tidbit.)

The symposium will have leaders from Los Angeles, Vancouver, San Francisco and Denver in attendance. These are people who have reportedly developed fixed guideway transit systems and created transit oriented development in their own cities. I won’t be able to be there, darn it! I hope there will be a lot of coverage because, what we thought would just go away as a bad idea, looks like it’s here to stay. We might as well get used to it. To be continued…

Passing by Pier 19 the other day, while on foot, I couldn’t help but stop and gaze at that boat with the pretty paint job. I felt sorry for it just sitting there looking forlorn and dejected. It got here with all the fan fare and excitement of something new and suddenly it’s all but abandoned.

I was going to ignore it and not talk about it but now it’s heading back into the headlines as the Senate has approved a special session that may have Senators agreeing to allow the Superferry to resume operation while the environmental assessment is underway. That may sound wonderful for the Superferry but it’s not to be without regulations and restrictions. The complaints heard the loudest included the protection of the ocean mammals, and the setting up a firewall (for lack of a better word) to prevent the inter-island transfer of invasive species. Of course I don’t know how the Superferry would deal with the latter, but we’ll see. Read the rest of this entry »